From classic books like The Count of Monte Cristo to modern movies like The Shawshank Redemption and television shows like Prison Break, people have always been fascinated by stories of wrongfully-imprisoned people escaping from jail. There's nothing quite like the tale of someone overcoming all odds to break their bonds of confinement.

Have you ever thought about what a task it would be to break out of a jail? Prisons are built with one goal in mind: keeping prisoners inside. From locked cells and thick walls to armed security guards and lookout towers, escaping from prison is no easy feat.

This is particularly true of one of the most famous prisons in U.S. history. It sits upon an island known as "The Rock" in chilly San Francisco Bay. According to official records, no one ever successfully escaped from the fortress known as Alcatraz.

Alcatraz takes its name from the name given to the island by Spanish explorer Juan Manuel de Ayala in 1775: La Isla de los Alcatraces or "Island of the Pelicans." In 1850, President Fillmore converted the island to military use. A fortress was built, cannons were installed, and the West Coast's first operational lighthouse was constructed.

The U.S. Army also began to use Alcatraz to house military prisoners. It was the perfect spot for a prison, because it was isolated and everyone assumed that no prisoner could successfully escape by swimming across the frigid waters of San Francisco Bay.

In the early 1900s, military prisoners helped to build a new, 600-cell jail, as well as a hospital, cafeteria, and other prison buildings. In 1933, Alcatraz was transferred to the U.S. Justice Department for use as a federal prison for prisoners too dangerous to be kept at other penitentiaries.

After new security upgrades, Alcatraz officially opened as a federal prison on July 1, 1934. The Bureau of Prisons looked at Alcatraz as "the prison system's prison." In other words, it's where other prisons could send their most dangerous and disruptive inmates to live under harsh conditions with few privileges in order to learn how to behave within the prison system.

Alcatraz usually held between 260-275 prisoners. Each prisoner had his own cell, and there was one guard for about every three prisoners. Some of the famous prisoners associated with Alcatraz included Al "Scarface" Capone, George "Machine Gun" Kelly, Alvin "Creepy Karpis" Karpowicz, and Robert "Birdman of Alcatraz" Stroud.

Even though Alcatraz was considered inescapable, prisoners certainly did try. What else would you expect from the worst prisoners in the system? In total, there were 14 escape attempts involving 36 prisoners.

Of those attempting to escape, 23 were captured, six were shot and killed during their attempt, two drowned, and five went missing and were officially presumed dead. While some people believe it's possible that one or more of the five who went missing successfully escaped, there is no evidence to suggest anyone escaped successfully.

Over the years, several people have proved that it's possible to swim from Alcatraz to the mainland. However, it's a difficult feat in the extremely cold waters of the bay that would've been even more difficult for prisoners who had no chance to train for such a difficult physical test of endurance.

Alcatraz was shut down in 1963 because it was simply too expensive to keep operating. All supplies had to be shipped to the island at great expense, and the island's exposure to the elements was taking its toll on the buildings.

In 1972, Alcatraz was made part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Today, over one million tourists visit Alcatraz each year, where they can tour the old buildings and see what life was like inside "The Rock" so long ago.

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Are you ready to investigate Alcatraz in depth? Be sure to explore the following activities with a friend or family member:

Want to get a glimpse of Alcatraz's past? Visit the National Park Service website to view Prison Artifacts from Alcatraz. What do you think it would've been like to be a guard at the prison? Would you have been scared? How would it have felt to be so isolated from the mainland?

Home to some of the worst federal prisoners in the country, Alcatraz was an island fortress that seemed inescapable. Of course, that didn't stop prisoners from trying. In fact, many people remain fascinated with the many escape attempts that occurred over the years. Check out Alcatraz Escape Attempts online to read summaries of each of the 14 escape attempts. Of the five people missing and presumed dead, could any of them have survived? What do you think?

Who were the criminals that Alcatraz housed? They came from a variety of circumstances and backgrounds. Read all about the Famous Inmates of Alcatraz online. If you had been imprisoned at Alcatraz, do you think you would have tried to escape? Why or why not? Why do you think no one ever successfully escaped?

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Samantha

Jan 8, 2018

Clarence Anglin and Joan Anglin and there brother and Frank Morris were trying to escape Alcataz and they had a row boat and patle boards so all of them went on the boat and three of them choosed to get one patle board and hit one of the brothers so they did and he dronded but the others escaped and stole a car and then they left there foot prints behind and people found out about them and thats all I know.

Samantha

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Jamie

Nov 24, 2017

I am sorry, but in fact someone did escape successfully without drowning or recaptured. This is a well documented FACT. My great grandfather Leonard Wilmore aka Roger James. On November 16th 1901 he managed to swim the bay. He then caught passage on a whaling ship and finally made it to Hawaii. Hawaii had just become part of the U.S from an illegal annexation but where he lived out the rest of his life. He was born in 1877 and was black man from Kentucky. Before escaping Alcatraz he had escaped Kentucky penitentiary and military stockade in the Philippines. Yes it was Military prison but that has no barring on the fact that he swam that bay and successfully escaped that was after all the main reason it was considered inescapable.

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christian hamrick

Sep 19, 2017

Alcatraz 1962 escapees had small chance of success. Three inmates who famously escaped from the US island prison Alcatraz had a small chance of making it to land alive - but the odds were stacked against them, a new study suggests. In 1962, the prisoners absconded using a raft, and were never seen again

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Sebastian Loayza

Sep 18, 2017

I never Believed any prisoner could escape Alcatraz, I think the water was way too deep and it was freezing, the prisoners who tried to swim away either froze or drowned, 5 probably escaped and I got a little bit more info about Alcatraz prison.